About the Author

Yvonne Wakim Dennis is an award winning author of non-fiction books for children and adults, many coauthored with Arlene Hirschfelder. Dennis interweaves environmental justice into all she writes and credits her diverse family (Cherokee/Sand Hill/Syrian) for piquing her interest in an inclusive and multicultural world. Although most of her publications have been about Indigenous peoples of the U.S., she has also penned books about the many different cultures of America. She serves as the Education Director for the Children’s Cultural Center of Native America and is a board director of Nitchen, Inc. an advocacy organization for Indigenous families in the New York City metro area. In 2014, Dennis received the National Arab American Museum’s Best Children’s Book of the Year Honor (A Kid’s Guide to Arab American History), a Sanaka Award and the David Chow Humanitarian Award.

Arlene Hirschfelder is the author or editor of over twenty-five books about Native peoples, including Native Americans: A History in Pictures and The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. She and Yvonne Dennis have authored five books together, including the award-winning Children of Native America Today and A Kid's Guide to Native American History. She worked at the Association on American Indian Affairs (a civil rights organization), for over 20 years and has years of experience consulting with publishers, museums, schools, and universities. In addition to being an author, Hirschfelder is series editor of “It Happened to Me,” which includes 46 nonfiction books (and still counting) for teen readers and is published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Shannon Rothenberger Flynn has authored lifestyle and design books for Hearst and contributed writing and editorial services to The Native Americans—an Illustrated History, which became a cable network series. She was project editor for the Scholastic Encyclopedia of the North American Indian and served as Native American consultant on books for young readers. Flynn teaches writing at Dutchess Community College and English at Westchester Community College in New York. She also writes and performs stories with the TMI Project in Ulster County, New York, where she lives.

Reviews

“Highly Recommended. Though there are many reference works relating to Native Americans, one is hard pressed to find a more comprehensive, affordable text written with such understanding and sensitivity to Native American indigeneity—a reflection of the authors' cumulative decades of research and writing and in-depth experience of Native history, culture, and affairs.” —Choice

“... a general resource, a look at the people and cultures of America’s indigenous peoples, both past and present.” —Denver Post

“... hefty softcover resource presents an overview of the many indigenous nations, tribes, language groups, and cultures ... accessible for teens and for general audiences as a modestly-priced, strong, one-volume introduction to the topic, or as a starting point for further research.” —VOYA

“... a sweeping historical overview of Native communities ... provides a wealth of information about all aspects of Native American life.” —New York Journal of Books

“... succeeds simply by conveying the legitimacy and distinctiveness of hundreds of nations, their cultures, their languages, and more. Recommended ...” —Booklist

“...provides a solid beginning for students as well as general readers with no background in Native American studies.” —Library Journal

“This is a book that belongs in every Indian education program.” —IC Magazine: A Publication of the Center for World Indigenous Studies

“The subtitle suggests the inclusive scope of this magisterial volume ...” —Chronogram

“... the most comprehensive, the most affordable, one-volume reference on Native American history, the people and the nations who helped make our nation.” —SirReadALot.org

“… the most comprehensive, affordable, one-volume reference on Native American people, covering Native American history, contemporary culture, important events and figures, languages, arts, and much more. …” – Protoview Book News